Dancing In Pandora | Miles Quaritch x OC

Chapter 9

Viktoria woke up with a gasp, pushing open her link, and struggled to sit up due to her weakened human body. She felt hands assist her to sit up, and then she felt her body become weightless as someone carried her from the pod and onto a bed. She felt disoriented, she could only see the lights flashing, and voices were muffled as if she was underwater. She started panicking. Her heart rate shot up drastically, making the people around her panic. She couldn't breathe, she was gasping air yet she couldn't breathe. She clawed at her throat, something was in her throat, something, she's forgetting something.

"Strap her! She's injuring herself!"

"Heart rate is increasing too fast! She's having a panic attack!"

"She can't breathe! Get the oxygen tank!"

People were rushing about, trying to stabilize her as much as they could.

"Ms. O'Connell! Ms. O'Connell can you hear me? My name is Dr. Marianne Cruz, do you know where you are?"

Viktoria tried to say no, but she couldn't, she was trying to claw the thing choking her.

"Ms. O'Connell! You're safe, you're back in the base, we need you to calm Dow-"

Viktoria couldn't hear whatever Dr. Cruz tried to say, she couldn't hear or see anything, she felt something from the back of her mind pushing forward, forcing her to remember. Who was it. What is it. What was that voice saying. Who- "Darling, sleep". And then darkness. Colonel. Colonel Quaritch. Quaritch. Miles-

Dr. Cruz almost screamed in terror when Viktoria's eyes snapped open, and taking one gasping breathe before screaming.

"MILES!"

She blacked out once again.

*****

When Viktor finally broke through the doors of the med bay, Viktoria had already stabilized. He ran to his twins side, letting out a breathe of relief upon feeling her weak hand. He collapsed onto the chair that was right next to the bed, full of guilt for running that day. It ate through him. He blamed himself for forcing her to go out that day, he shouldn't have convinced her to explore the forest, if he didn't practically drag her to get linked up, she wouldn't be in this situation. The guilt ate him thoroughly. He looked to her, she looked thinner, no doubt to the days she wasn't able to eat or be fed due to her being stuck in her link pod. He wanted to just pull the plug and force her to come back, but he couldn't risk the possibility of her getting permanent brain damaged due to forceful disconnection between her Avatar and human brain. So all he could do was painfully wait for her to safely wake up, and for news that she was finally found. He had tried to find her using his own Avatar, but Mikael, that bastard, had restricted him. He was forced to stay behind and be useless. That made the guilt worse.

"How's her condition?"

"She's stabilized. She woke up disoriented and having a panic attack. She did manage to scream Colonel Quaritch's name before fainting."

Viktor was somber. She screamed the Colonel's name despite her disorientation. He didn't know what happened out there, but he knew that Colonel Quaritch had saved his sister. The O'Connells owe the Colonel a debt. Something that wasn't easily paid. It could take years for that debt to be paid, or even a lifetime, or a payment of equal value. Viktoria's life was of immense value, priceless to be exact. And Colonel Quaritch was her savior. One of the many things The O'Connells were ingrained with throughout the generations was that a debt must be paid. Quaritch didn't know yet but, he was the only man in the entire universe to have The O'Connells at his beck and call. Considering the fact Viktoria was a woman, she didn't count.